JP5467656B2 - Developing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing device and an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a developer carrying member that develops by attaching toner as a developer to an electrostatic latent image formed on an electrostatic latent image carrying member, and a regulating member that regulates the toner layer thickness on the developer carrying member In the developing device provided with the developing blade as described above, the end of the developing blade is brought into contact with a seal member provided on the side surface of the toner accommodating portion in which the toner is accommodated to prevent toner leakage ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-265325 A

  However, in the developing device having the above-described configuration, only the end portion of the developing blade receives pressure from the seal member, so that there is a problem that the toner layer thickness is not constant between the end portion and the central portion of the developing blade.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to cause a difference in layer thickness regulation of the toner layer thickness between the end portion and the central portion of the developing blade as a regulating member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a developing device and an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing the above.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a developing device according to the present invention is a developing device including a regulating member that regulates the layer thickness of the developer on the developer carrying member in the developer accommodating portion, and is provided on the side of the regulating member. A second seal is disposed on the inner wall of the developer accommodating portion so as to face the end, and is provided at the end of the first seal member and the restricting member to prevent the developer from leaking out, and is in contact with the first seal member. The material of the second seal member is lower in hardness than the material of the first seal member, and the second seal member is bonded to the end of the regulating member. And a non-adhesive region for securing a compressive force generated when the first seal member abuts .

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention irradiates light based on image data to form an electrostatic latent image, and develops the electrostatic latent image formed by the exposure apparatus to form a developer image. A developing device, a transfer device for transferring the developer image formed by the developing device to a recording paper, and a fixing device for fixing the transferred developer image on the recording paper. And a developing device that includes a regulating member that regulates the layer thickness of the developer on the developer carrying member in the developer accommodating portion, and is disposed on the inner wall of the developer accommodating portion so as to face the side end of the regulating member. A first seal member that prevents leakage of the developer; and a second seal member that is provided at an end of the restricting member and contacts the first seal member. The material of is lower than the material of the first seal member And in degrees, the end of the regulating member, and a non-bonding area for securing the compressive force the an adhesive region in which the second sealing member is bonded first seal member is caused by contact It is provided .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a developing device and an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of a difference in toner layer thickness difference between an end portion and a central portion of a developing blade as a restricting member. Can do.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a schematic configuration of the printer. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating schematic structure of a developing device. It is a figure explaining the adhesion position of the 2nd sealing material with respect to a developing blade. It is a figure explaining the adhesion position of the 2nd sealing material with respect to a developing blade. It is a schematic diagram explaining the contact state of a 1st sealing material and a 2nd sealing material. It is a figure which shows the state which integrated the developing blade which adhere | attached the 2nd sealing material in the image drum unit. It is a schematic diagram explaining the contact state of a 1st sealing material and a 2nd sealing material. It is a fragmentary perspective view of the developing blade for demonstrating the thin film material provided in the contact surface with respect to the 1st sealing material of the 2nd sealing material. It is a schematic diagram explaining the contact state of a 1st sealing material and a 2nd sealing material. It is a figure which shows the state which integrated the developing blade which adhere | attached the 2nd sealing material in the image drum unit.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following description, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

[First embodiment]
In the description of the first embodiment, first, a printer as an image forming apparatus to which the developing device according to the invention is applied will be described, and then the developing device according to the invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a schematic configuration of a printer 100 according to the present invention. The printer 100 is a color printer capable of forming a color image by superposing toners as four color developers of black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). . The printer 100 that realizes such a function includes developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, 15C, and a paper conveying path S formed in a substantially S shape starting from the tray 11 and ending at the discharge roller 23. A fixing device 17 is included.

  The tray 11 stores sheets P stacked therein, and is detachably attached to the lower part of the printer 100. Then, the hopping roller 12 provided on the upper portion of the tray 11 takes out the sheets P stored in the tray 11 one by one from the uppermost portion and feeds them to the sheet transport path S.

  The registration roller (pressure) 13 is paired with a registration roller (feed) 14 to correct the skew of the paper P fed from the tray 11 and to convey the paper P to the transfer belt 18.

  The developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C are developing devices corresponding to toner colors (K: black, Y: yellow, M: magenta, C: cyan) as a developer. It is attached detachably. The developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C are irradiated light emitted from light sources such as LED (Light Emitting Diode) elements (not shown) provided in exposure heads 16K, 16Y, 16M, and 16C as exposure devices described later. As a result, toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 to develop a toner image as a developer image. The developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C will be described in detail later.

  The exposure heads 16K, 16Y, 16M, and 16C are LED heads having, for example, light emitting elements such as LED elements and a lens array, and irradiation light output from the LED elements based on image information is the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. It is arranged so as to be a position where an image is formed.

  The fixing device 17 is disposed on the downstream side of the sheet transport path S after the developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C, and includes a heat roller, a backup roller, a thermistor, and the like. For example, a heat roller is formed by coating a hollow cylindrical cored bar made of aluminum or the like with a heat-resistant elastic layer of silicone rubber and coating a PFA (tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer) tube thereon. Is formed. In the core bar, for example, a heater such as a halogen lamp is provided. The backup roller, for example, has a structure in which a heat-resistant elastic layer of silicone rubber is coated on a metal core made of aluminum or the like and PFA is coated thereon, and is arranged so that a pressure contact portion is formed between the heat roller and the heat roller. Has been. The thermistor is means for detecting the surface temperature of the heat roller, and is disposed in the vicinity of the heat roller in a non-contact manner. The surface temperature of the heat roller is maintained at a predetermined temperature by controlling the heater based on the detection result of the surface temperature of the heat roller detected by the thermistor. The sheet P on which the toner image formed in the developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C is transferred passes through the pressure contact portion formed by the heat roller and the backup roller maintained at a predetermined temperature, and thus the sheet P Heat and pressure are applied to the toner, and the toner melts to fix the toner image.

  The transfer belt 18 is an endless belt member that electrostatically attracts and conveys the paper P, and is paired with a drive roller 19 that rotates by a driving force transmitted by a driving unit (not shown) and the drive roller 19. It is stretched by the tension roller 20 provided. The transfer belt 18 is driven as the drive roller 19 rotates.

  The transfer rollers 21K, 21Y, 21M, and 21C are disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the respective photosensitive drums 2 provided in the developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C. The transfer rollers 21K, 21Y, 21M, and 21C are connected to a high voltage power supply for the transfer roller (not shown), and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 is fed to the paper P by the applied voltage applied to the transfer roller. Is transcribed.

  The discharge roller 22 is paired with the pinch roller 23 to sandwich and convey the paper P that has passed through the fixing device 17, and discharges the paper P to a paper stacker that is formed using the outer casing of the printer 100.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, as other members constituting the printer 100, the printer 100 includes a microprocessor, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an input / output port, a timer, and the like. A print control unit, an interface control unit that receives print data and a control command, controls the entire sequence of the printer 100, and executes a print operation; and temporarily stores print data input via the interface control unit Receiving memory, print data stored in the receiving memory, and editing the print data to display the image data editing memory for storing the formed image data (image data) and the status of the printer 100 For example, a display unit including a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a user For example, an operation unit having an input means such as a touch panel for receiving instructions from the user, various sensors such as a paper position detection sensor, a temperature / humidity sensor, and a concentration sensor for monitoring the operation state of the printer 100, The image data stored in the image data editing memory is sent to the exposure heads 16K, 16Y, 16M, and 16C, and the exposure device drive control unit that controls the drive of the exposure heads 16K, 16Y, 16M, and 16C and the temperature of the fixing device 17 are controlled. A temperature control unit for controlling, a paper transport motor control unit for controlling a drive motor for rotating each roller for transporting the paper P, a drive control unit for controlling a drive motor for rotating various rollers such as a photosensitive drum, And a high voltage power source for applying a voltage to each roller.

  Next, the developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C will be described with reference to the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. The developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C are different only in the toner color to be stored, and the other configurations are all the same. Therefore, in the following description, the developing devices 15K, 15Y, 15M, and 15C will be described as the developing device 15.

  The developing device 15 according to the present embodiment includes an image drum unit 9 that develops a toner image and a toner cartridge 1 that contains toner therein. The toner cartridge 1 is detachable from the image drum unit 9. .

  The image drum unit 9 includes a photosensitive drum 2, a charging roller 3, a developing roller 4 as a developer carrier, a supply roller 5, a developing blade 6 as a regulating member, a toner storage chamber 7, and a cleaning blade 8. And a first sealing material 51 as a first sealing member and a second sealing material 52 as a second sealing member.

  The photosensitive drum 2 includes a conductive support and a photoconductive layer. For example, a charge generation layer as a photoconductive layer and a charge transport layer are sequentially stacked on a metal shaft such as aluminum as a conductive support. Is an organic photoconductor configured.

  The charging roller 3 is composed of, for example, a metal shaft and semiconductive epichlorohydrin rubber. The charging roller 3 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 2 with a predetermined pressure, and uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 based on an applied voltage from a high voltage power source (not shown).

  The developing roller 4 as the developer carrying member is provided with urethane rubber in which carbon black is dispersed on the outer periphery of a metal shaft such as stainless steel, and the surface thereof is subjected to isocyanate treatment. The developing roller 4 is disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2, supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2, and develops the toner image.

  The supply roller 5 is provided with a semiconductive foamed silicone sponge layer on the outer periphery of a metal shaft such as stainless steel. The supply roller 5 is in contact with the developing roller 4 with a predetermined pressure, and supplies the toner supplied from the toner cartridge 1 to the developing roller 4.

  The developing blade 6 as a regulating member is a plate-like member made of, for example, a metal plate such as stainless steel, and one end thereof is disposed at a position where it abuts on a predetermined position on the surface of the developing roller 4. The developing blade 6 regulates the layer thickness of the toner supplied from the supply roller 5. The configuration of the developing blade 6 and its peripheral part will be described in detail later.

  The toner storage chamber 7 temporarily stores the toner supplied from the toner cartridge 1.

  The cleaning blade 8 is, for example, a urethane rubber member, and one end thereof is disposed at a position where the cleaning blade 8 contacts a predetermined position on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The cleaning blade 8 cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by scraping off the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2.

  The first sealing material 51 is a sealing member that is provided on the side wall of the toner storage chamber 7 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2 and that abuts on a second sealing material 52 that is provided by adhering to the end of the developing blade 6. .

  The second sealing material 52 is a sealing member that is provided at both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side and abuts on the first sealing material 51. Note that a material having a hardness lower than that of the first sealing material 51 is used for the second sealing material 52.

  The toner cartridge 1 includes a toner container 24 and a waste toner collector 25.

  The toner container 24 is a hollow box-shaped member having a storage space for storing unused toner. A toner supply port 10 for supplying toner to the toner storage chamber 7 is formed at a lower portion of the toner container 24, and the toner dropped through the toner supply port 10 is stored in the toner storage chamber 7. The agitating member is rotatably supported (not shown) and is supplied to the supply roller 5 by the conveying member.

  The waste toner container 25 is a box-shaped member having a storage space for storing used toner collected by the cleaning blade 8 or the like, and is formed integrally with the toner container 24.

  Next, the configuration of the developing blade 6 as a regulating member and its peripheral part will be described in more detail. 3 and 4 are views for explaining the bonding position of the second sealing material 52 to the developing blade 6.

  As described above, the developing blade 6 is a plate-like member made of, for example, a metal plate such as stainless steel, and the lower end portion 6 a on the side in contact with the surface of the developing roller 4 has a rotational direction of the developing roller 4. It is bent in an L shape so that it is in the counter direction. Then, at both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side, a compressive force generated by the contact of the first sealant 51 with the adhesive region 60a to which the second sealant 52 is adhered is secured. A non-adhesive region 60b is provided.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, since the second sealing material 52 is not bonded to the non-bonding region 60b, the compression force generated in the compression region A is ensured by coming into contact with the first sealing material 51. The sealing performance between the first sealing material 51 and the second sealing material 52 can be further enhanced.

  Next, an image forming process of the printer 100 to which the developing device 15 having the above configuration is applied will be described.

  First, when image data is input to the printer 100, the printer 100 starts an image forming process. At the start of the image forming process, the paper P stored in the tray 11 is fed out one by one to the paper transport path S by the rotation of the hopping roller 12 rotated by driving of a drive motor (not shown). Thereafter, the sheet P is conveyed to the developing device 15 along the sheet conveyance path S while the skew is corrected by the registration rollers 13. Then, an image forming process shown below is started at a predetermined timing until the paper P is conveyed to the developing device 15.

  When image data is input to the printer 100, the photosensitive drum 2 is rotated at a constant peripheral speed in a predetermined direction by a drive motor (not shown). The charging roller 3 provided in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 applies a charging bias supplied by a high-voltage power supply for a charging roller (not shown) to the surface of the photosensitive drum 2, and this surface is uniformly applied. Charge uniformly. Next, light corresponding to the image data is irradiated onto the uniformly and uniformly charged surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by the exposure head 16 provided facing the photosensitive drum 2, and the potential of the light irradiation portion is changed to light. Attenuates to form an electrostatic latent image.

  The developing roller 4 is disposed in close contact with the photosensitive drum 2, and a developing bias is applied by a developing roller high voltage power source (not shown). The developing roller 4 adsorbs the toner conveyed by the supply roller 5 to which the supply bias is applied, and rotates and conveys the toner. In this rotational conveyance process, the developing blade 6 disposed downstream of the supply roller 5 and in pressure contact with the developing roller 4 forms a toner layer in which the toner adsorbed on the developing roller 4 is made to have a uniform thickness.

  Further, the developing roller 4 reversely develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 with toner to be carried. Since a bias voltage is applied between the conductive support of the photosensitive drum 2 and the developing roller 4 by a high-voltage power supply, the photosensitive drum 2 is formed between the developing roller 4 and the photosensitive drum 2. Electric field lines accompanying the generated electrostatic latent image are generated. Therefore, the charged toner on the developing roller 4 adheres to the latent image portion on the photosensitive drum 2 by electrostatic force, and this portion is developed to form a toner image.

  The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 is transferred to the paper P by the transfer roller 21 to which a voltage is applied by a transfer roller high voltage power source (not shown).

  Thereafter, the sheet P is conveyed to a fixing device 17 having a heat roller and a backup roller. The sheet P on which the toner image has been transferred is controlled by a temperature control means (not shown) and conveyed to a pressure contact portion formed by a heat roller and a backup roller maintained at a predetermined surface temperature. Then, the toner is melted by the heat applied from the heat roller, and further pressed by the pressure contact portion, whereby the toner image is fixed on the paper P.

  The paper P on which the toner image is fixed is conveyed by the discharge roller 22 and discharged to the paper stacker, and a series of image forming processes is completed.

  Note that some toner may remain on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 after the toner image is transferred. The remaining toner is removed by the cleaning blade 8. The cleaning blade 8 is disposed so as to contact a predetermined position on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. When the photosensitive drum 2 rotates around the rotation axis while the cleaning blade 8 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2, the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 without being transferred is removed. The cleaned photosensitive drum 2 is then repeatedly used in the image forming process.

  Next, the bonding operation of the second sealing material 52 to the developing blade 6 according to this embodiment will be described. First, the second sealing material 52 is bonded to the bonding regions 60 a at both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side. At this time, a part of the second sealing material 52 is in a state of protruding from the end of the developing blade 6.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where the developing blade 6 to which the second sealing material 52 is bonded is incorporated in the image drum unit 9.

  In FIG. 6, a region surrounded by the image drum unit 9, the developing roller 4, the supply roller 5, the developing blade 6 and the first sealing material 51 corresponds to the toner storage chamber 7 shown in FIG. Both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side are in contact with the first seal material 51. The second seal member 52 is not affected by the compressive force due to contact with the first seal member 51. For this reason, since the developing blade 6 can be less susceptible to the restraining force from the first seal member 51 at both ends, the developing blade 6 restricts the thickness of the toner layer to the developing roller 4 in the longitudinal direction. Can be almost even.

  The portion of the second sealing material 52 that protrudes from the end of the developing blade 6 is compressed by contact with the first sealing material 51. Therefore, the second sealing material 52 can ensure higher sealing performance at both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the second sealing material 52 is provided at both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side, so that both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side The toner leakage from the gap with the first sealing material 51 can be prevented. The second sealing material 52 has a high hardness in the compression region at the contact portion between the developing blade 6 and the first sealing material 51, but the other portion has a low hardness. Since it is possible to make it difficult to receive the restraining force from the first seal member 51 at both ends of the toner, it is possible to prevent occurrence of a difference in the layer thickness regulation of the toner layer thickness between the end portion and the center portion of the developing blade. I can.

[Second Embodiment]
In the description of the second embodiment, the same portions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof is omitted, and different portions are described.

  When the developing blade 6 according to the first embodiment is incorporated into the image drum unit 9, as shown in FIG. 7, the second sealing material 52 is in contact with the first sealing material 51 while being compressed. Friction is likely to occur. In this case, toner leakage may occur from the space 72 generated by the deformation of the second sealing material 52. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the contact surface of the second sealing material 52 with respect to the first sealing material 51. An embodiment in which a thin film material 53 as a film member is provided will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the developing blade 6 for explaining the thin film material 53 provided on the contact surface of the second sealing material 52 with respect to the first sealing material 51. The film material 53 is a thin film material provided on the surface of the second seal material 52 that contacts the first seal material 51 at both ends of the toner storage chamber 7 side.

  As shown in FIG. 9, as in the first embodiment, since the second sealing material 52 is not bonded to the non-bonding region 60 b, the first sealing material 51 and the film material 53 are interposed. Thus, the compressive force generated in the compression region A can be secured, and the sealing performance between the first sealing material 51 and the second sealing material 52 can be further enhanced.

  FIG. 10 shows that the developing blade 6 provided with the film material 53 provided on the surface in contact with the first sealing material 51 is incorporated in the image drum unit 9 at both ends of the second sealing material 52 on the toner storage chamber 7 side. It is a figure which shows a state.

  In FIG. 10, a region surrounded by the image drum unit 9, the developing roller 4, the supply roller 5, the developing blade 6 and the first sealing material 51 corresponds to the toner storage chamber 7 shown in FIG. Both ends of the developing blade 6 on the toner storage chamber 7 side are in contact with the first seal material 51. At this time, since the hardness of the second sealing material 52 is lower than that of the first sealing material 51, the first sealing material 51 is compressed by the contact from the second sealing material 52. Not affected. In addition, since the film material 53 is provided on the surface of the second sealing material 52 on the toner storage chamber 7 side at the both ends of the second sealing material 52, the contact surface with the first sealing material 51 is provided. When the developing blade 6 is incorporated into the image drum unit 9, the generation of frictional force in the direction of the arrow 71 shown in FIG. 7 can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects according to the first embodiment, the generation of frictional force on the contact surface between the first sealing material and the second sealing material is reduced. And the formation of gaps that cause toner leakage can be suppressed.

  In the description of the present invention, a printer has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a copying machine, a FAX, and a complex machine in which these are combined.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toner cartridge 2 Photosensitive drum 3 Charging roller 4 Developing roller 5 Supply roller 6 Developing blade 7 Toner storage chamber 8 Cleaning blade 9 Image drum unit 11 Tray 12 Hopping roller 13 Registration roller 14 Registration roller 15K, 15Y, 15M, 15C Developing device 16K , 16Y, 16M, 16C Exposure head 17 Fixing device 18 Transfer belt 19 Drive roller 20 Tension roller 21K, 21Y, 21M, 21C Transfer roller 22 Discharge roller 23 Pinch roller 24 Toner container 25 Waste toner container 51 First seal material 52 Second sealing material 53 Film material

Claims (6)

A developing device provided with a regulating member for regulating the layer thickness of the developer on the developer carrying member in the developer accommodating portion,
A first seal member that is disposed on an inner wall of the developer accommodating portion so as to face a side end of the restricting member, and that is provided at an end portion of the restricting member, the first seal member And a second seal member in contact with
The material of the second seal member is lower in hardness than the material of the first seal member,
The end portion of the regulating member is provided with an adhesion region to which the second seal member is adhered and a non-adhesion region for ensuring a compressive force generated by the first seal member abutting. A developing device. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein a film member is provided on a surface of the second seal member that comes into contact with the first seal member. The restricting member has a surface substantially parallel to the axial direction of the developer carrying member, and the second seal member is protruded and bonded to an end portion side of the surface. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2. An exposure apparatus that irradiates light based on image data and forms an electrostatic latent image;
A developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed by the exposure device to form a developer image;
A transfer device for transferring the developer image formed by the developing device to a recording paper;
A fixing device for fixing the transferred developer image to the recording paper,
The developing device is a developing device provided with a regulating member for regulating the layer thickness of the developer on the developer carrying member in the developer accommodating portion,
A first seal member that is disposed on an inner wall of the developer accommodating portion so as to face a side end of the regulating member, and prevents leakage of the developer;
A second seal member provided at an end of the restricting member and in contact with the first seal member;
The material of the second seal member is lower in hardness than the material of the first seal member,
An end of the regulating member is provided with an adhesive region to which the second seal member is bonded and a non-adhesive region for securing a compressive force generated by the first seal member coming into contact.
An image forming apparatus. A film member is provided on a surface of the second seal member that contacts the first seal member.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4. The restricting member has a surface substantially parallel to the axial direction of the developer carrier, and the second seal member protrudes toward the end of the surface and is bonded.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: